Caster.



Patented Nov. l8, I902. E. C. BAYNES.

EASTER.

(Application filed June 26, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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EDWARD C. BAYNES, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

(EASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 713,839, dated November 18, 1902. Application filed June 26,1901. Serial No. 66,044. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD C. BAYNES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and usefullmprovements in Casters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a caster and socket therefor; and the invention is especially designed for casters and sockets intended for use in connection with furniture-legs made of metal tubes or pipes, such as are common at the present time in metal bedsteads and the like. In such metal tubular legs it is quite common to provide a caster-socket which is separate from the leg and is inserted therein and to provide means for detachably or permanently securing the socket in the leg. It has also been proposed to permanently secure a sheet-metal caster-socket in a tubular leg by casting an ornamental base on the leg, in which portions of the caster are embedded in the act of casting. All of these various casters and means for securing the same in the legs are more or less expensive and objectionable in that they are liable to be misplaced or broken and necessarily multiply the number of parts of the article of furniture to which the caster is to be applied.

It is the main object of the present invention to provide a metal tubular leg or the like with a caster-socket which shall be exceedingly simple and which can be quickly and cheaply applied to the leg, forming a permanent part thereof.

.A further object of the present invention is to provide a tubular leg with a castersocket and an ornamental base or foot therefor east integrally and constituting in effect a single part permanently attached to the lower end of the leg.

A further object of the invention is to pro duce an exceedingly simple and cheap caster shank or pintle made of a single piece of sheet metal and provided with an integral retaining tongue or part for detachably retaining the shank in the caster-socket.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the lower portion of a metal tubular leg provided with a caster-socket and caster embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional View of a portion of the tubular leg, showing a slightlymodified embodiment of the caster-socket. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the caster removed from the socket. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation. Fig. 5 is a cross-section in line 5 5, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the sheetmetal blank from which the caster shank or stem is made.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.

Referring to the drawings, A indicates a tubular metal leg, the lower portion only being shown, which is preferably provided with one or more holes a, extending through the walls of the tube at or near the lower end thereof.

B, Fig. 1, indicates a caster-socket which is of cast metal and occupies the lower portion of the bore of the tubular leg extending up into the same above the holes a and having a pintle-cavity preferably provided with an upper rounded or dome-shaped top Z). The walls of the cavity preferably taper toward the upper rounded portion thereof, so as to form a substantially conical cavity with a rounded top or apex. The socket, as will be seen from Fig. 1, has laterally-projecting integral portions or l'ugs Z) extending into the holes a in the leg. These lugs or portions securely hold the socket in place in the leg and insure against any possibility of the socket being removed from or forced upwardly into the leg.

0, Fig. 1, indicates a base ornament or foot, such as are commonly employed on brasstrimmed beds.

The socket is formed by placing the lower end of the leg having the holes a therein into a mold provided with a suitable core of a shape corresponding with the desired shape of the cavity of the socket extending up into the lower end of the leg,- a space being left between the core and the inner wall of the leg. Molten metal is then poured into the mold and finds its way through the holes or openings at or under the lower end of the leg into the leg, forming therein a plug or socket substantially as shown and having the central cavity formed by means of the core.

In the manufacture of iron beds the legs of the same are usually provided with acastmetal ornamental foot or base, such as indicated at d in Fig. 2. This ornamental base or foot and a socket substantially like that indicated in Fig. 1 may be formed in a single operation on the lower end of the leg as a single casting or integral part in a similar manner to that just described, the only difference being that a suitable molding cavity or space is left in the mold surrounding the lower portion of the leg and of a shape to give the desired configuration to the ornamental base or foot. When the metal is poured into the mold, it fills the cavity and also the lower part of the leg-bore by passing through the holes a or under the lower end of the leg, the ornamental base and the socket being joined by the metal occupying the holes a or extending under the end of the leg.

E indicates the caster-shank. This shank is formed from a single-piece sheet-metal blank of substantially the form shown in Fig. 6. From this figure it will be seen that the blank is provided with a substantially triangular upper portion F, having at opposite sides thereof wings f, which have straight inclined outer edges or sides and upper rounded or substantially semicircular end portions, (indicated at f.) Projecting laterally and downwardly from the opposite sides of the lower portion of the blank are legs G, provided near their outer ends with holes g. The upper sides of the legs preferably extend upward and join the inner lower edges of the wing portions f, providing cut-out portions or pockets g between the upper sides of the legs and the upper sides of the wings.

H indicates a substantially vertical U- shaped slit or cut in the central upper portion of the top of the blank. This cut provides a tongue I, which preferably has a lower rounded end i. The blank thus formed is bent, as by stamping, so as to bring the outer inclined or side edges of the wings f together, so as to meet onacentrallongitudinalline atthe front. The shape of the blank is such that when the wings are thus bent around and brought together the triangular portion F and the wings f of the blank form a conical caster-shank proper or pintle, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. The upper rounded portions f when brought together form the upper rounded or dome-shaped end of the shank. The lower portion of the legs G extend downwardly from the shank substantially parallel and spaced apart for the reception of the casterwheel, which is indicated at J. It will be observed that the upper portions of the legsthat is, near where they join the lower end of the conical shank-are curved or rounded. This formation of the upper portions of the legs adds materially to the strength of the same and prevents the bending or breaking thereof under the weight to which the caster is to be exposed. The cut-out portions g permit the side edges of the wings to meet at the front of the shank over the caster-wheel and leave ample space for the latter. The tongue I extends downwardly and outwardly from the outer surface of the shank and has its lower end i bent inwardly, so as to form a rounded or smooth lower portion. This tongue is adapted when the shank is inserted in the caster-socket to engage the inner wall thereof or a shoulder thereon and retain the shank in the socket against accidental displacement. It does not interfere with the easy placement and removal of the shank from the socket.

It will be observed that with the socket and castershank formed as above described there are no base-engaging shoulders or parts on the shank and socket, but the socket bears directly upon the upper rounded end of the shank.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a tubular metal leg, of a socket-plug cast in said leg and having one or more integral projecting parts which interlock with holes in said leg to prevent the detachment of said socket-plug therefrom, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a tubular metal leg, of a metal socket-plug in thelower portion thereof, and an external metal base or foot integral with said socket-plug and connected thereto by one or more parts which pass through holes in said tubular leg to prevent the detachment of said plug and base from said leg, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a tubular metal leg, of a metal socket-plug in the lower portion thereof, an external metal base or foot integral with said socket-plug and connected thereto by one or more integral parts which pass through holes in said leg, and a caster having a shank entering said socket and bearing at its upper end on said socket-plug, said shank being provided with means for retaining it in the socket, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 20th day of June, 1901.

E. C. BAYNES.

Witnesses:

JNo. J. BONNER, CLAUDIA M. BENTLEY. 

